Where the Black Designers Are: A Life in Advocacy

Celebrated designer, writer, activist, and educator Cheryl D. Holmes-Miller’s memoir of a life in advocacy and her journey to answer the question “Where are the Black designers?”

Cheryl D. Holmes-Miller is one of the design field’s most respected figures. She is legendary for her decades of scholarship and activism and is known as a touchstone and conscience for the design profession. This long-awaited book documents the history of the question she has been asking for decades: “Where are the Black designers?” along with related questions that are urgent to the design profession: Where did they originate? Where have they been? Why haven’t they been represented in design histories and canons?

Holmes-Miller traces her development as a designer and leader, beginning with her own family and its rich multiethnic history. She narrates her experiences as a design student at Rhode Island School of Design, Maryland Institute College of Art, and Pratt, leading up to her oft-cited Pratt thesis examining barriers to success for Black designers. Holmes-Miller describes the work of her eponymous studio for noted clients that included NASA, Time Inc., and the nascent Black Entertainment Television, as well as the story of her later critiques of the industry in the design press, most notably in Print magazine. Miller also recounts the parallel history of collective efforts by fellow scholars and advocates over the past fifty years to identify and celebrate Black designers.

Enhanced with a foreword by Crystal Williams, president of Rhode Island School of Design, award-winning poet, and noted advocate for equity and justice in the fields of art and education, Here is part memoir, part investigation, and part urgent call for justice and recognition for Black designers, making it an invaluable resource for graphic design professionals, teachers, and students.